British personal insolvencies head north in the fourth-quarter to the highest value since 2010

British personal insolvencies head north in the fourth-quarter to the highest value since 2010

19:06 05.02.2019

At the end of the previous year, the total number of British citizens finding themselves insolvent tacked on. That’s what follows from official data. Undoubtedly, it’s going to contribute to unease over the health of the United Kingdom’s customer-led economy ahead of Brexit.

For the fourth quarter, in Wales and England there were up to 34,108 individual insolvencies, which appears to be the most impressive outcome since the second quarter of 2010 and also a 35% jump versus 2018. That’s what the government's Insolvency Service revealed on Tuesday.

The ascend was powered by a record number of Individual Voluntary Arrangements -- agreements to have creditors short of declaring bankruptcy repaid.

The figures actually get along with other signs of vulnerability in the country’s consumer economy, showing up just two months before the United Kingdom is anticipated to depart from the EU.

According to this month’s official data, for the three months to December UK customers reduced their spending for the first time since last spring.

As the Insolvency Service states, up to 3,949 businesses in Wales and England faced financial issues for the fourth quarter, which is 11% more than in 2018.

Following three years of flat numbers, last year insolvencies managed to creep back to the level last observed in 2014, as some financial analysts pointed out.

The pressure point for British businesses is poor consumer demand. Currently UK customers don't have much spare cash, which is reflected in the ascend in the number of personal insolvencies for the last time.

The previous week Ben Broadbent, Bank of England Deputy Governor told he was worried by a slew of warnings that UK household debt had hit unsustainable levels.

Growth in UK household debt is considered to be a good gauge of financial distress in this country.

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